Monthly Archives: September 2009

With pickup truck sales at a 25-year low, automakers are facing signficant pressure to offset the losses. School of Management Dean Lou Lataif, a former Ford Motor senior executive, says the basic business model for all auto manufacturers is under stress. “Automakers will need to continue to rationalize their cost structures while adding features and […]

With Microsoft showing its first-ever drop in annual revenue due to the bad economy, the software giant has cut the annual pay and awards to its top executives. School of Management Professor James Post, an expert in corporate governance, says Microsoft provides an example of good compensation practices that should be minicked. “This sends a […]

The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center is hosting an evening with distinguished Newsweek journalist and author Christopher Dickey tonight beginning at 5:3o PM on the second floor of the George Shurman Union at 775 Commonwealth Avenue. His career has taken him from the mountain forests of Nicaragua, where he traveled with the Contra rebels in […]

On a 15-8 vote, the Democratic-controlled Senate Finance Committee has rejected the “public option” in the healthcare reform bill sponsored by chairman Max Baucus. School of Management Professor Stephen Davidson, author of “In Urgent Need of Reform: Saving the U.S. Healthcare System,” says without a government-run option, the insurance industry won’t be able to keep […]

Big Pharma players Johnson & Johnson, Abbott, and Merck all bet on vaccines this week by making deals for the rights to new flu vaccines. School of Law Professor Kevin Outterson, director of the Health Law Program and an authority on drug marketing, says vaccines are hot because they’re the most expensive in history. “With […]

In a sign of the media times, CBS News has entered a partnership with GlobalPost.com in an effort to better cover world news using the reporting resources of the new Boston-based Web site. Journalism Professor Bob Zelnick, a former ABC News foreign correspondent, says it should help CBS’s coverage of foreign news. “We would all prefer network […]

In her “Saturday Night Live” debut as a cast member, Jenny Slate uttered the “f-bomb” in a sketch littered with fake obscenities. College of Communication Professor T. Barton Carter, a Federal Communications Commission expert, reminds that indecency regulations only apply between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. “Although this may be a public relations problem for […]

Following other tech giants in bolstering revenue from services, Xerox has agreed to buy Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., for $6.4 billion. School of Management Prof. N. Venkat Venkatraman, chair of the Information systems Department, says the move was a competitive necessity. “The premium seems a bit high, but the acquisition gives Xerox decent scale to […]

With Americans dealing with the down economy, discount coupon redemption is booming this year and expected to grow. School of Management marketing Professor Shuba Srinivasan says looking for value and being thrifty is now “in” again. “In the current economic climate, consumers have been quick to cut budgets, yet seem willing to shop when discounts […]

“A recent study in the American Journal of Heath Promotion estimates that 1.5 million cases of high blood pressure could be eliminated and over $2 billion in health care costs could be save annually if Americans would reduce their daily intake by a mere 400 milligrams (mg) of sodium. Americans are consuming over 3,000 mg […]